


All Alone, More or Less

by The H Stands For Hologram (Disherona)



Category: Red Dwarf
Genre: After Stoke Me a Clipper, Alone in Space, Arnold As Ace, Arnold Rimmer as Ace, Caring, Dave Lister (mention), Friendship, Gen, HoloAce, Kryten (mention), remembering, thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 08:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17977505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Disherona/pseuds/The%20H%20Stands%20For%20Hologram
Summary: Ace Rimmer uses some quiet time in the Wildfire Cockpit to think.





	All Alone, More or Less

Ace, formally Second Technician Arnold Judas Rimmer of the J.M.C. mining ship Red Dwarf, had become accustomed to living out of the cramped cockpit of the Wildfire. Not much space, much less than in Starbug, only able to get out long enough to stretch his legs, overthrow an evil tyranny, have a little sex and then back to the big black!

It had not been that long ago that he had took flight in Wildfire, a sleek dimension jumping ship that, at one time, had been piloted by a better, more successful Arnold Judas Rimmer, He had left his crewmates and his past behind and taking on a name that he would have, and had, done anything for anyone to willingly and unsarcastically call him. He had the name, now. Handed down from another Ace, who had received it from another in a long line of caterpillar to butterfly transformations and ending in heroic deaths. 

He was Ace now, taking on the originals name and much of his personality, as much as he could stomach, anyway. The Commander Arnold Judas Rimmer, Space Corps Marine who was technically the same but so different from himself. That Ace was the man his parents and brothers wanted him to be, the man that he had always hoped to be of his own accord and attempted to be. He tried putting on an unsuccessful performance of the rescuing hero, “Captain A.J. Rimmer, Space Adventurer", when his crew had first met Kryten on Nova 5. He imagined himself as an amalgamation of his three brothers. As capable as Frank as handsome as John, and as charming as Howard. 

And it was a ridiculous and unsuccessful performance. 

He still considered his version of Ace a ridiculous performance. Everyone who met him loved it, even as he learned to hide his rolling eyes behind a fringe of hair when he said some phrase that made him want to vomit as soon as it left his mouth.

His success had come in learning how to “be” Ace, without judgement or ridicule, for the rescued princess and communities of grateful villages and freed beings from different dimensions. Beings who would only see the success and rarely remember the shortcomings and mistakes. That made a difference. He was playing Ace like an accomplished thespian. And he loved the accolades. 

And often, after the anxiety of going on the stage which was set for his playing the hero, blasting through dimensions, saving oppressed people, rescuing damsels in distress or improving on his previously nearly nonexistent sex life came the reward, the most significant of which was that he had succeeded in actually being a hero. 

It wasn’t all adventures. Occasionally there were rare, quiet moments, when his sultry voiced computer was unusually quiet, with no mention of jumping, or overthrowing or rescue when he could enjoy the silence and used the time to think. 

He shifted the seat back, so that he could get a better look at the stars in this galaxy, in this dimension. He didn’t know which dimension he was in or if he had been here previously, but that was for the Wildfire’s Computer to track. Wherever he was, he let his thoughts drift as he mentally traced the unusual star patterns and made up constellations in his mind. He wasn’t the master of the art of contemplation, but he had a unique imagination and a creativity that shown itself on the rare occasion 

The clear cockpit cover reminded him of the observation dome on Red Dwarf, and a time when he was still a soft light, projected hologram, and times when he wanted to be on his own but was limited in the ways he could accomplish this. At those times he would escape to the observation dome during moments of personal turmoil. Alone to think, mourn, sulk or just get away from the others for a time.

He was usually eventually found by Lister. The smeghead. When a man wanted to be lost on a ship or in his mind, he didn’t want to be found. But eventually his former bunk-mate found him.

And the Scouser, noticing he had gone missing, looked for him and talked with him – really talked to him man to man. He didn’t hurl insults at him or make him feel like less of a person for having personal grief. That meant that the little smegger had cared. That was more than he could say for his family or the “friends” he had known before he died. If he didn’t care, at least a little bit, Lister would have let him get lost on Red Dwarf, and in his own destructive thoughts, and been done with him. 

He wondered if his former crewmate, who he considered to be the closest thing he had to a friend throughout his life and hologrammatic afterlife, remembered him fondly, or if he thought about him at all. Or if Lister had presumed that his light bee had already joined his predecessors in the uncountable Ace coffins that had encircled that somber giant gas planet. 

‘God, I hope not.’ Rimmer thought

“Ace,” the sexy feminine voice of the Wildfire’s computer broke through his thoughts.

“Hmm?” Ace answered, coming back to reality. 

“Prepare to Jump. We’re going to Dimension 19870201. A little Aganiod troubles that needs seeing to.” 

“Oh?” He answered in his natural voice, then cleared his throat and continued in the more debonair Ace voice. “Can’t be late for the party, Computer.” He smiled and continued. “Let’s jump!”

**Author's Note:**

> My first Red Dwarf fanfic.  
> Please comment and criticize. I want to improve my work.


End file.
